scholarly journals Updating salamander datasets with phenotypic and stomach content information for two mainland Speleomantes

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Enrico Lunghi ◽  
Fabio Cianferoni ◽  
Simone Giachello ◽  
Yahui Zhao ◽  
Raoul Manenti ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Stomach Contents ◽  
Phenotypic Traits ◽  
Large Dataset ◽  
Amphibian Species ◽  
Plethodontid Salamanders ◽  
Content Information ◽  
Term Monitoring ◽  
Long Term Studies

AbstractEuropean plethodontid salamanders (genus Speleomantes; formerly Hydromantes) are a group of eight strictly protected amphibian species which are sensitive to human-induced environmental changes. Long-term monitoring is highly recommended to evaluate their status and to assess potential threats. Here we used two low-impact methodologies to build up a large dataset on two mainland Speleomantes species (S. strinatii and S. ambrosii), which represents an update to two previously published datasets, but also includes several new populations. Specifically, we provide a set of 851 high quality images and a table gathering stomach contents recognized from 560 salamanders. This dataset offers the opportunity to analyse phenotypic traits and stomach contents of eight populations belonging to two Speleomantes species. Furthermore, the data collection performed over different periods allows to expand the potential analyses through a wide temporal scale, allowing long-term studies.

Mapping and monitoring intertidal benthic habitats: a review of techniques and a proposal for a new visual methodology for the European coasts

2009 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 378-402 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laurent Godet ◽  
Jérôme Fournier ◽  
Nicolas Toupoint ◽  
Frédéric Olivier
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Coastal Zones ◽  
Quick Method ◽  
Simple Method ◽  
Long Term Monitoring ◽  
Intertidal Habitats ◽  
Global Environmental Changes ◽  
Remote Sensing Methods ◽  
Term Monitoring

Mapping seafloors is a fundamental step for managing and preserving coastal zones. Moreover, in a context of current global environmental changes, new methods allowing long-term monitoring are increasingly required. Various methods have been used to map seafloors, primarily benthic macrofauna and sediment sampling along regular grids or transects, and remote sensing methods. These methods map very different things, do not have the same accuracy levels, and have different costs in time and money. Furthermore, such methods often require the competencies of highly skilled scientists and exclude non-specialists otherwise best placed to perform them. In this paper, we test a method based on Direct Field Observations (‘DFO method’), which can be used by non-specialists, and assess if it is sufficient for mapping and monitoring intertidal habitats. We further compare this method with other conventional ones. The results show that such a simple method is relatively rapid and inexpensive given the results obtained. Moreover, it is particularly suitable for highly fragmented intertidal landscapes where other methods are often very limited. In consequence, in areas such as the European coasts, it can be used by non-specialists, such as protected-area managers, and because it is an inexpensive and quick method long-term monitoring is also possible.

scholarly journals Amphibians of Santa Teresa, Brazil: the hotspot further evaluated

ZooKeys ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 857 ◽  
pp. 139-162 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rodrigo Barbosa Ferreira ◽  
Alexander Tamanini Mônico ◽  
Emanuel Teixeira da Silva ◽  
Fernanda Cristina Ferreira Lirio ◽  
Cássio Zocca ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Literature Review ◽  
Regional Scale ◽  
Southeastern Brazil ◽  
Amphibian Species ◽  
The World ◽  
Long Term Monitoring ◽  
Conservation Plans ◽  
Term Monitoring ◽  
Effective Conservation

A checklist of the amphibians of Santa Teresa municipality, in southeastern Brazil is presented based on fieldwork, examination of specimens in collections, and a literature review. This new amphibian list of Santa Teresa includes 108 species, of which 106 (~98%) belong to Anura and two (~2%) to Gymnophiona. Hylidae was the most represented family with 47 species (43%). Compared to the previous amphibian lists for Santa Teresa, 14 species were added, 17 previously reported species were removed, and 13 species were re-identified based on recent taxonomic rearrangements. Of the 14 species added, 11 (79%) were first recorded during our fieldwork and specimen examination. It is also the first list of caecilians for Santa Teresa. This list suggests that Santa Teresa has 0.16 species per km2 (i.e., 108 species/683 km2), one of the highest densities of amphibian species in the world at a regional scale. This richness represents 78% of the 136 anurans from Espírito Santo state and 10% of the 1,080 amphibians from Brazil. We highlight the need for long-term monitoring to understand population trends and develop effective conservation plans to safeguard this remarkable amphibian richness.

scholarly journals From Water into Sediment—Tracing Freshwater Cyanobacteria via DNA Analyses

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (8) ◽  
pp. 1778
Author(s):  
Ebuka Canisius Nwosu ◽  
Patricia Roeser ◽  
Sizhong Yang ◽  
Lars Ganzert ◽  
Olaf Dellwig ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Column ◽  
High Throughput Sequencing ◽  
Surface Sediments ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Sediment Traps ◽  
Sequence Variant ◽  
Sediment Record ◽  
Term Monitoring ◽  
Taphonomic Processes

Sedimentary ancient DNA-based studies have been used to probe centuries of climate and environmental changes and how they affected cyanobacterial assemblages in temperate lakes. Due to cyanobacteria containing potential bloom-forming and toxin-producing taxa, their approximate reconstruction from sediments is crucial, especially in lakes lacking long-term monitoring data. To extend the resolution of sediment record interpretation, we used high-throughput sequencing, amplicon sequence variant (ASV) analysis, and quantitative PCR to compare pelagic cyanobacterial composition to that in sediment traps (collected monthly) and surface sediments in Lake Tiefer See. Cyanobacterial composition, species richness, and evenness was not significantly different among the pelagic depths, sediment traps and surface sediments (p > 0.05), indicating that the cyanobacteria in the sediments reflected the cyanobacterial assemblage in the water column. However, total cyanobacterial abundances (qPCR) decreased from the metalimnion down the water column. The aggregate-forming (Aphanizomenon) and colony-forming taxa (Snowella) showed pronounced sedimentation. In contrast, Planktothrix was only very poorly represented in sediment traps (meta- and hypolimnion) and surface sediments, despite its highest relative abundance at the thermocline (10 m water depth) during periods of lake stratification (May–October). We conclude that this skewed representation in taxonomic abundances reflects taphonomic processes, which should be considered in future DNA-based paleolimnological investigations.

scholarly journals LONG-TERM MONITORING OF ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGES ALONG CHINA-EUROPE RAILWAY EXPRESS (CER EXPRESS) USING MULTI-SOURCE REMOTELY SENSED DATA

2021 ◽  
Vol XLIII-B3-2021 ◽  
pp. 817-822
Author(s):  
B. Ma ◽  
X. Guo ◽  
J. Jiang ◽  
D. Culibrk ◽  
S. Ding ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Degradation ◽  
Small Area ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Comprehensive Evaluation ◽  
Environmental Indicators ◽  
Remotely Sensed Data ◽  
Ecological Changes ◽  
Long Term Monitoring ◽  
Term Monitoring

Abstract. The China-Europe Railway Express (CER-Express), not only promoted the cooperation between countries and regions across Asia and Europe but also gave rise to remarkable changes in landcover and had a profound effect on the natural environment along the railway in recent years. Effective ways to monitor and assess ecological changes are urgently needed to ensure sustainable development of CER-Express. There are very few existing environmental monitoring studies focusing on the area along the CERExpress. In this paper, we present a study of environmental degradation, which occurred during the construction and operation of CER-Express from 2010 to 2018, based on a comprehensive evaluation index (CEI), which takes three environmental indicators into account and provides a timely and reliable evaluation of environmental changes at large scales. In addition, the environment conditions of the regions and countries along the CER-Express have been quantified and comparatively studied at different scales over different periods, using histograms of mean CEI values. Furthermore, specific causes of environmental degradation in the rail-intensive countries and small-area countries along the railway are discussed. Our results show that the environmental degradation can be detected in most of the rail-intensive countries, such as Germany, Poland, Austria, and Czech Republic along the railway. Therefore, to ensure sustainability of the CER-Express, environmental protection along the railway should be paid more attention to and a reasonable arrangement for the exploitation of CER-Express devised.

Changes in Canadian seabird populations and ecology since 1970 in relation to changes in oceanography and food webs

2009 ◽  
Vol 17 (NA) ◽  
pp. 267-286 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthony J. Gaston ◽  
Douglas F. Bertram ◽  
Andrew W. Boyne ◽  
John W. Chardine ◽  
Gail Davoren ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cold Water ◽  
Biological Indicators ◽  
Ecosystem Change ◽  
The North ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Decadal Scale ◽  
Canadian Wildlife ◽  
Term Monitoring ◽  
Long Term Studies

Systematic monitoring of seabird populations in Canada has been ongoing since the 1920s and the monitoring of diets and other biological indicators of ecosystem change started in the 1970s. Long-term monitoring of population parameters began in the 1980s. These studies originally were conducted mainly by the Canadian Wildlife Service, but subsequently have involved several universities and nongovernment organization groups. We review the results of this monitoring from the 1970s onwards for six oceanographic regions to assess population trends among Canadian seabirds and correlated trends in diets, phenology, and other breeding biology variables. Within regions, trends in most variables studied have been broadly congruent, but there was often variation among regions. In particular, seabird populations in the Pacific coast zone affected by the California Current upwelling system have shown generally negative trends since the 1980s, whereas trends for populations of the same species to the north of this zone have been mainly positive. Likewise, on the east coast, trends at Arctic colonies have been decoupled from those at colonies around Newfoundland and in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, especially since the major cold water event of the early 1990s. Several long-term studies have shown an association between population events and diet and phenology changes. Diet and indicators of condition (chick growth, reproductive success) sometimes responded very rapidly to oceanic changes, making them excellent signals of ecosystem perturbations. The review highlights the effects of decadal-scale regime shifts on Canadian seabirds, confirms the value of long-term studies and supports the applicability of single-site observations to regional populations.

Perspectives on biotic responses to repeated wildfires from decades of long-term empirical studies

2022 ◽  
Vol preprint (2022) ◽  
Author(s):  
David Lindenmayer ◽  
Elle Bowd ◽  
Chris MacGregor ◽  
Lachlan McBurney
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Fire History ◽  
Fire Severity ◽  
Salvage Logging ◽  
Eastern Australia ◽  
Ecosystem Condition ◽  
Long Term Monitoring ◽  
Term Monitoring ◽  
Long Term Studies

ABSTRACT Fire can have marked impacts on biodiversity and on ecosystem condition. However, it is the sequence of multiple fires over a prolonged period of time which can have the most marked effects on biodiversity and on ecosystem condition. A good understanding of these effects comes from long-term studies. In this article we outline some of the key perspectives on the effects of fire on ecosystems and biodiversity from two large-scale, long-term monitoring studies in south-eastern Australia. These are studies in the montane ash forests of the Central Highlands of Victoria and at Booderee National Park in the Jervis Bay Territory. These studies have shown that the effects of fires are strongly influenced by: (1) The condition of an ecosystem before a fire (e.g. the age of a forest at the time it is burnt). (2) Conditions after the fire such as the extent of herbivory in regenerating vegetation and whether the ecosystem is subject to post-fire (salvage) logging. (3) Fire history (e.g. the number of past fires and the time since the previous fire). And, (4) Interactions between fire and other ecosystem drivers such as logging. We discuss some of the key implications for conservation and resource management that arise from these studies including the need to: (a) Reduce the number of stressors in some ecosystems to facilitate post-fire recovery. (b) Recognize that pre-fire human disturbances can elevate fire severity in some forest ecosystems, with corresponding negative effects on elements of the biota, and, (c) Acknowledge the inherent patchiness of wildfires and the value of unburnt areas and places burnt at low severity as critical refugia for some species; it is critical that these locations are managed accordingly (e.g. by limited additional disturbances within them). Finally, many of the insights discussed in this article have emerged only through long-term studies. More long-term monitoring and research is needed to truly understand and better manage fire in Australian ecosystems.

scholarly journals EFFECTS OF COVER BOARD AGE, SEASON, AND HABITAT ON THE OBSERVED ABUNDANCE OF EASTERN RED-BACKED SALAMANDERS (PLETHODON CINEREUS)

2014 ◽  
pp. 53-58
Author(s):  
Geoffrey R. Smith ◽  
Cody N Grasser
Keyword(s):  
Effective Means ◽  
Habitat Type ◽  
Plethodon Cinereus ◽  
Ecological Indicator ◽  
Plethodontid Salamanders ◽  
Long Term Monitoring ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Abundance And Distribution ◽  
Term Monitoring

Plethodontid salamanders are potentially good ecological indicator species in woodland habitats due to their abundance and sensitivity to changes in the environment. The use of terrestrial salamanders as ecological indicators depends on effective means of surveying their abundance and distribution. Our study examined the use of old and new artificial cover boards by Eastern Red-backed Salamanders (Plethodon cinereus). We also considered the effects of season (spring vs. fall) and habitat type (deciduous vs. coniferous vs. mixed) on cover board use by P. cinereus. Our results indicated that P. cinereus abundance was greater under old cover boards compared to new cover boards. However, the difference between the use of old and new cover boards was greater during the spring than the fall, suggesting that the effect of cover board age became weaker over time. Plethodon cinereus showed strong seasonal variation in observed abundance, with peaks during the spring and fall seasons and very low surface activity during the summer. Plethodon cinereus had higher observed abundance in deciduous habitats than in coniferous and mixed habitats. Our results suggested that care should be taken to account for cover board age in long-term monitoring programs, especially if cover boards are replaced during a study.

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